the life we live
by Athena Goddess of the Wise
Summary: It may not perfect, but it's ours. / /: Various drabbles on various characters in The Legend of Korra.
1. Shattered

**Chapter Title**: Shattered  
**Pairings/Characters**: Slight Mako/Korra, Mako/Korra friendship, Bolin/Korra friendship  
**Word Count:** 121  
**Setting:** This happens when Bolin gets kidnapped by the Equalists in later episodes.

* * *

Korra was surprised, to say the least.

The usually calm, "cool-under-fire" Mako looked…shattered. And she understood why, completely. It just seemed so wrong to see him like this, so broken. And she felt like it too. But, not to his extent. Bolin was his _brother, _whereas she had only known the earthbender for a few weeks. And she felt desolate.

So she could only imagine how he felt.

And she doesn't know what to do. She isn't good with emotions. She isn't good at calming people, not like Katara, or even Pema.

So she does the only thing she could. She reached out, put her hand on his shoulder, and _promised_ him it would be okay.

She'd make sure of it.

* * *

**A/N:** This is just a speculation.

Also, this is a series thing. And now some notes on it.

1. I'm bad at updating, though, so don't expect much. I will probably put up a bunch of drabbles in the next few days, but then I'll just…stop. Because I suck.

2. My writing style varies...it should all be in third person POV though.

3. The characters will vary, so will the pairings. Makorra will probably be in there a lot though...

4. I hate the name. Please give me other ideas...

5. Give me ideas for chapters, too.

6. The drabbles are not in order.


	2. Monsterous Beast

**Chapter Title**: Monsterous Beast  
**Pairings/Characters**: Cuteness between Korra and Tenzin and Pema's fourth child  
**Word Count:** 264  
**Setting:** Whenever Pema has her child. Because its bound to happen eventually.

* * *

She was never going to have children. No way. At all. Unless she wanted to give over precious sleep. Every night. _Every night._

I mean, she slept _ten rooms _down from the beast and she was _still_ woken up at odd hours in the night. She honestly didn't understand how Tenzin and Pema had had three…_monsters_ already.

It was the middle of the night when the baby woke her up. Again. After _she-didn't-know-how-long_ of its constant wailing, she decided that Pema and Tenzin were either passed out from exhaustion and unable to get up, or they had decided to try a new tactic in getting the baby to stop crying: ignoring it.

After rolling around in her bed trying to ignore the shrieks, Kora decided that if she wanted even a sliver of peace she would have to go (_shudder_) stop the baby herself.

Easier said than done.

After rocking it, burping it, glaring at it, making funny faces at it, and threatening to burn it to a crisp, the baby was still crying.

She picked it up again, crooning at it, rocking it, when finally (finally!) the beast stopped crying. And then, it looked up at her with almond eyes and gurgled.

It _gurgled_.

After all that wailing. It _gurgled_!

Still, it was rather cute. Maybe she wouldn't mind the monster if it gurgled a bit more and cried a bit less.

Gently, she put the sleeping baby into its cradle and silently crept away, praying that the next time the baby cried, its own parents would get up and deal with it.


	3. Happy Birthday

**Chapter Title**: Happy Birthday (alternitevely titled The Origins of the Red Scarf).  
**Pairings/Characters**: Some cute Bolin/Mako brother-ness.  
**Word Count:** exactly 400 (almost so long I didn't post it).  
**Setting:** Back when Mako and Bolin lived on the streets.  
**Note: **People seem to think Mako's scarf is really special. i don't know if I agree with that, but if it _does_ have to have some profound meaning, it should be because of something like this.

* * *

"Happy Birthday!"

Now, this normally happy expression was entirely lost on Mako. Really, Bolin should learn not to sneak up on his brother, as Mako very nearly burnt the well-meaning ten-year old.

Once he got over the initial worry that he was being attacked, Mako's next surprise was the medium sized package in his brother's hands. Now, from the "happy birthday" said not moments before, one could rightly assume that today was Mako's birthday (his twelth, to be exact) and so a package would not be that unusual.

Except it was.

Because, when you live on the streets, it's hard to come by enough money to buy presents for trivial things such as birthdays. The most Mako had ever spent on his brothers birthday since they had been living on the streets was five Yuan, and he could only assume the little presents his brother got him cost less than that. And nothing that large could cost less than ten Yuan.

Plus it was _wrapped_. Granted, in plain brown paper, but it. Was. _Wrapped_.

"Well, open it!" Bolin nudged. For a second Mako didn't want to. Maybe if he didn't, he could return it… But then he decided that it wouldn't hurt to at least see what it was. He unwrapped it, making sure not to rip the paper in hopes of saving it and using it one Bolin's birthday in a few months. Inside was a red scarf. Now, Mako was no expert, but it was a _nice _scarf.

"Ho-how much did this cost?" he stuttered. Bolin frowned, "Twenty Yuan, including the wrapping paper." Mako was pretty sure his mouth was hanging open. "How did you afford this?"

"I've been saving up for a few months." Bolin smiled, proud of himself. Suddenly, his face looked worried. "Do you like it?"

_No_, Mako wanted to say, even though that wasn't true. Maybe then Bolin could (would) take it back and get something nice for himself. But seeing his brothers expectant face, he wrapped the scarf around his neck and smiled. "I love it."

Bolin fce broke into a grin. "Good! It's red, see, 'cause you're a firebender! And the lady said it would last a while, and now you'll have something to keep you warm, and –" his brother continued to talk, and Mako nodded his head along and smiled.

Maybe just this once, Mako could be a little selfish.


	4. Abnormal

**Chapter Title**: Abnormal  
**Pairings/Characters**: Pemzin (aka Pema/Tenzin).  
**Word Count:** 252.  
**Setting:** Over several periods of time...just read it and you'll understand.  
**Note: **I have nothing against how different their ages are, though I will admit I didn't want then to have such a large age difference at first because it seemed a little...wierd. But, I learned to except it, and then I read some Pemzin fanfics, so now I'm happy. Also, I kinda don't like this chapter that much, though I like the general idea...

* * *

He first met her when she was sixteen.

_He was twice her age._

She was kind, and sweet, and smart, and beautiful. He couldn't help feeling that if he was ten years younger, he might actually fall for her.

_But he wasn't._

.~~~~~~~~.

He first kissed her when she was eighteen. Or rather, she kissed him. It wasn't all that surprising to him, that she did. They had been friends for two years, and though it may have started out as a student/teacher friendship, any one (especially Katara) could tell it grew.

_Most things do as they mature, you know_.

Still, he was sixteen years older than her. He was a man before she was born. He felt dirty, and he pushed her away.

_He always was a spoilsport, just ask his siblings._

.~~~~~~~~.

They got married when she was twenty one. It took a push from his father and a shove from his mother to realize that age didn't matter – after all, Katara was two years older than Aang, and if you wanted to get technical, Aang was really a hundred years older than Katara.

_But that didn't stop them, now did it?_

.~~~~~~~~_._

They had Jinora, their first child, when she was twenty five.

_He was forty one._

.~~~~~~~~.

Yes, maybe their story was unconditional, odd. Maybe some might find it wrong that a man so much older loved a woman so much younger. But they loved eachother.

So yeas, maybe their story was abnormal.

_But aren't all the best?_

.

* * *

_Leave me prompts, please!_


	5. What A Tangled Web We Weave

**Chapter Title**: What A Tangled Web we Weave  
**Pairings/Characters**: Makorra, Borra, Masami  
**Word Count:** 132.  
**Setting:** Just generally in the series.  
**Note: **Sort of a poem-y thing.

* * *

What a tangled web we weave, secrets being revealed out of the author's sleeve.

What love does to one's heart, each person playing their own part.

For you see, the earthbender (usually a lady sporting) has a crush on the Avatar, who doesn't even notice his courting.

Why? Because the avatar, she likes another, a firebender, the earthbenders brother.

But oh! Here's where it gets worse. The firebender has feelings for another, of course. He sees the young Avatar as only a teammate, mayhap not even a friend, and is dating an heiress who cannot bend.

Ah, what a tangled web we weave, each of their crushes feelings for others striking their hearts, leaving a cleave.

Oh, the web is tangled into quite a knot. But somehow it all fits into the creators plot.


	6. nothing

**Chapter Title**: Nothing  
**Pairings/Characters**: Tahno  
**Word Count:** 142.  
**Setting:** After episode six.  
**Note: **Kind of crap, I wrote it in like five minutes, and didn't proof-read it.

* * *

"Come on." He growled to himself, to the small pool of water before him. "Just move the damn water!"

He's been trying for a hour now, at least. Trying to do something that had once been so damn easy to him he could have done it in his sleep. But the water wouldn't move.

Finally, he gives up and kicks the water in anger (_There, it moved now, didn't it?_). He wants to scream. _Why_, out of the three of them, did it have to be him to get this part of him removed?

And he could feel it gone. It was like an aching whole in his chest, like when you're trying to remember something but for the life of you can't. His waterbending, gone.

His waterbending, the source of his fame.

His glory.

His…everything.

Without his waterbending, he was…nothing.

_Nothing._


End file.
